Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/431

 BRAS1DAS ARRIVES Ai AMi'HIPOLIS. 409 friends aud relatives of these victims without, indescribable con- fusion reigned, of which the conspirators within tried to avail themselves in order to get the gates thrown open. And so com- plete was the disorganization, that if Brasidas had marched up without delay to the gates and assaulted the town, many persons supposed that he would have carried it at once. Such a risk, however, was too great even for his boldness, the rather as re- pulse would have been probably his ruin. Moreover, confiding in the assurances of the conspirators that the gates would be thrown open, he thought it safer to seize as many persons as he could from the out-citizens, as a means of working upon the sen- timents of those within the walls ; lastly, this process of seizure and plunder was probably more to the taste of his own soldiers, and could not well be hindered. But he waited in vain for the opening of the gates. The con- spirators in the city, in spite of the complete success of their sur- prise and the universal dismay around them, found themselves unable to carry the majority along with them. As in Akanthus, so in Amphipolis, those who really hated Athens and wished to revolt were only a party-minority ; the greater number of citi- zens, at this critical moment, stood by Eukles and the few native Athenians around him in resolving upon defence, and in sending off an express to Thucydides (the historian) at Thasos, the col- league of Eukles, as general in the region of Thrace, for imme- diate aid. This step, of course immediately communicated to Brasidas from within, determined him to make every effort for enticing the Amphipolitans to surrender before the reinforcement should arrive ; the rather, as he was apprized that Thucydides, being a large proprietor and worker of gold mines in the neigh- boring region, possessed extensive personal influence among the Thracian tribes, and would be able to bring them together for the relief of the place, in conjunction with his own Athenian squad- ron. He therefore sent in propositions for surrender on the most favorable terms, guaranteeing to every citizen who chose to remain, Amphipolitan or even Athenian, continued residence with undisturbed property and equal political rights, and grant- ing to every one who chose to depart, five days for the purpose of carrying away his property. VOL. VI. 18